-.St.  Louis  (City)  opjjy  Plan  Commission^ 
.  pubs.]  fc .  ->  j  (|  MM 


ST.    LOUIS 
FTER  THE  WAR 


Wl 


HURCHILL 


University  of  California 

Southern  Regional 

Library  Facility 


ST.    LOUIS 
AFTER   THE   WAR 


THE   CITY  PLAN    COMMISSION 

HARLAND    BARTHOLOMEW 
ENGINEER 


With  an  introduction  by 

WINSTON  CHURCHILL 


So  a( 

Library  45 
of  Cafifo 


NIXON-JONES  PRINTING  CO. 

ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 

1918 


APR  13 


OFFICE    OF   THE   CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 

OP   ST.   LOUIS 

To  the  Honorable  December   10,   1918. 

Board   of  Public   Service, 

City  of  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Gentlemen: 

At  the  September  meeting  of  the  City  Plan  Commission  the  engi- 
neer was  instructed  to  prepare  a  report  on  public  work  in  St.  Louis. 
This  action  was  taken  in  anticipation  of  the  end  of  the  war,  though 
so  abrupt  a  termination  of  hostilites  was  not  then  expected.  It  was 
our  thought  that  irrespective  of  the  date  when  the  war  would  end, 
St.  Louis  should  be  prepared  to  undertake  at  once  necessary  public 
work  and  in  so  doing  provide  as  well  a  constructive  remunerative 
employment  for  many  of  the  60,000  St.  Louisans  that  have  entered 
the  government  service,  should  occasion  for  their  employment  arise. 

Upon  presentation  of  the  report  by  the  engineer  it  occurred  to 
the  Commission  that  an  introduction  to  this  report,  written  by  some 
one  capable  of  interpreting  the  spirit  of  St.  Louis,  would  serve  to 
point  more  clearly  the  desirability  of  early  and  concerted  action,  for 
since  St.  Louis  has  responded  more  liberally  than  any  other  American 
city  to  the  nation's  call  for  help,  certainly  she  should  be  equal  to  the 
task  of  providing  for  her  own  imperative  needs.  Quite  naturally, 
therefore,  we  turned  to  that  former  St.  Louisan  whose  rank  in  the 
field  of  literature  and  letters  is  well  known — Mr.  Winston  Churchill. 
We  take  this  opportunity,  therefore,  to  express  our  appreciation  of 
Mr.  Churchill's  ready  response  to  our  request  for  an  introductory 
statement.  Its  striking  appeal,  we  believe,  will  find  a  response  in 
other  cities  whose  onward  march  in  the  field  of  municipal  progress 
should  be  quickened  and  inspired  in  the  light  of  their  present  oppor- 
tunities. 

It  is  with  a  sense  of  satisfaction  and  pleasure  that  we  present 
herewith  our  report  on  "St.  Louis  After  the  War,"  for  the  considera- 
tion of  your  honorable  body. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

LOUIS  P.  ALOE,  ERNEST  J.  RUSSELL, 

President,  Board  of  Aldermen.  Chairman 

E.  R.  KINSEY,  Aiwumttiw 

President.  Board  of  Public  Service.     A-  &-  ^AW^»    J"*. 

CHAS.  M.  TALBERT, 

Director,  Streets  and  Sewers.  W.  F.  CARTER, 

NELSON  CUNLIFF,  w    H    FUCHS, 

Comr.,  Parks  and  Recreation. 

JAMES  N.  MoKELVEY,  C"  E'  GOLTERMANN, 

Building  Commissioner.  CLARENCE  H.  HOWARD, 

JOHN  A.  OCKERSON, 

HARLAND  BARTHOLOMEW,  EDWIN  D.  SMITH, 

Engineer.  Members  appointed  by  the 

BURTON  BUNCH,  .     Board  of  PuUic  service. 

Secretary.  «= 


Introduction 

By 
Winston   Churchill 

I  have  before  me,  as  I  write,  a  page  of  a  pamphlet  proclaim- 
ing St.  Louis  as  the  American  City.  Of  the  seven  largest 
cities  in  the  United  States,  St.  Louis,  according  to  the  statis- 
tics given  here,  has  by  far  the  smallest  population  of  foreign 
born.  Now,  if  this  be  true,  one  would  expect  the  citizens  of 
St.  Louis,  acting  in  their  civic  as  well  as  in  their  individual 
capacities,  to  exhibit  more  strongly  than  those  of  any  other 
big  community  the  characteristics  and  traits  of  the  American. 

What  are  those  characteristics  and  traits?  Let  us  recognize 
frankly  our  defects  as  well  as  our  virtues.  The  charge  that 
we  have  been  overimpressed  by  material,  commercial  success 
is  by  no  means  unfounded.  Before  the  war  there  is  no  gain- 
saying that  our  main  civic  ambition  was  a  commercial  one. 
We  did  not,  indeed,  neglect  our  libraries,  art  museums  and. 
our  parks ;  we  had  begun  to  set  aside  playgrounds  for  our  chil- 
dren; and  St.  Louis  was  justly  proud  of  the  buildings  that 
house  her  schools.  As  a  sign  of  the  quickening  of  this  new 
community  spirit  that  was  to  come,  a  splendid  civic  pageant 
may  be  cited.  But  our  conception  of  a  desirable  city  was 
chiefly  utilitarian,  in  which  the  fine  arts  and  the  larger  social 
good  were  sacrificed  to  a  prosperity  redounding  largely  in 
favor  of  the  privileged  and  potentially  privileged;  a  'city 
which  could  give  exceptional  opportunities  to  the  man  born 
with  the  "business  faculty."  Not  that  the  business  faculty 
is  by  any  means  to  be  despised.  But  it  is  not  the  only  quality 
needed  in  a  rounded  and  happy  community.  And  while  com- 
mercial prosperity  is  essential,  it  can  no  longer  have  any  per- 
manence if  other  factors  in  a  city's  life  and  growth  are  slighted 
and  neglected. 

Our  great  World's  Fair  which  marked  the  inauguration  of 
the  century,  was  largely  dedicated  to  commercial  prosperity; 
and  hence  ephemeral,  although  it  did  establish  our  capacity  to 
accomplish  great  things  and  made  the  name  St.  Louis  familiar 
throughout  the  world.  These  will  both  help  us  in  carrying 
out  greater  measures  in  the  future.  With  a  new  vision  gained, 

5 


CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 


we  can  see  now  that  had  these  millions  been  spent  on  such  a 
Social  scheme  as  the  City  Plan  Commission  now  proposes,  the 
results  would  have  shown  substantial  benefits  far  more  endur- 
ing. We  have,  for  instance,  ' '  turned  our  backs  upon  the  noblest 
work  of  nature,  the  Mississippi,  and  left  it  bankrupt  between  its 
own  banks. ' '  Education  and  vision,  however,  are  gained  through 
mistakes  and  crises;  and  we  have  today  ample  proof  that  our 
energy  and  courage  are  unimpaired.  No  one  foresaw  the 
World  War — that  incalculable,  educating,  unifying,  fusing 
force  which  in  four  years  was  to  accomplish  more  in  trans- 
forming America  than  the  normal  work  of  fifty  years.  Some- 
thing of  the  new  issues,  of  the  interdependence  of  man  on 
man,  of  nation  on  nation,  which  are  to  bring  about  the  vast 
social  changes  of  the  Twentieth  Century  had  impressed  them- 
selves upon  us  before  the  war,  but  no  one  could  have  pre- 
dicted that  in  less  than  two  decades  we  should  be  pouring  out 
our  millions  in  a  cause  which  must  reveal  to  us  not  only  what 
we  want,  but  also  the  manner  in  which  it  shall  be  obtained. 
And  how  those  of  us  who  still  claim  association  with  St.  Louis 
scanned  with  faith  the  columns  of  our  newspapers  to  read  with 
pride  the  response  of  the  city  to  that  cause.  War  had  scarcely 
been  declared  when  her  quota  of  volunteers  was  overfilled 
and  at  length  one  out  of  every  fourteen  St.  Louisans  was  en- 
listed in  the  Government  service. 

Nor  was  it  in  the  "boom"  spirit  of  local  aggrandizement  that 
our  citizens  oversubscribed  by  millions  in  each  of  the  Red 
Cross  drives,  but  for  the  suffering  and  starving  peoples  of  the 
earth,  for  soldiers,  too,  other  than  our  own.  In  this  same  cause 
and  in  larger  proportions  than  those  of-  any  other  city  did  our 
houseAvives  stint  and  deny  themselves.  To  other  funds  our 
subscriptions  were  equally  liberal.  But,  even  more  significant 
of  the  aroused  Americanism  of  our  people  was  the  readiness 
to  lend  their  money  to  the  nation  and  to  the  world  in  time  of 
need.  During  the  summer  of  1918,  rich  and  poor  alike  were 
buying  nearly  two  million  dollars  worth  of  war  saving  stamps 
a  month.  The  story  of  all  our  Liberty  Loans  is  one  of  millions 
oversubscribed ;  while  in  the  last  two,  by  a  triumph  of  organi- 
zation and  generosity,  St.  Louis  led  all  other  cities  in  the  na- 
tion. 

In  this  accomplishment,  a  tribute  must  be  paid  to  the  talent 


INTRODUCTION 


for  a  large  scale  organization  which  is  essentially  an  Ameri- 
can "business"  trait.  But  aroused  now,  observe,  to  a  realiza- 
tion of  a  social  idea  embracing  the  world.  What  the  world 
regards  and  admires  as  a  quixotic  act,  our  willingness  to  ex- 
pend our  energies,  our  talent  and  our  treasure  for  an  end, 
innocent  of  territorial  aggrandizement,  of  material,  commer- 
cial supremacy,  has  been  swiftly  and  efficiently  accomplished 
without  undue  waste  by  the  aid  of  that  administrative  gift  in 
our  business  men — a  sufficient  augury  of  the  part  that  gift 
must  play  in  the  Community  of  the  Future. 

The  supreme  question  facing  our  city  and  the  country  to- 
day is  whether  we  shall  be  able  to  keep  before  our  eyes  the 
ideal  we  have  gained  in  this  war,  and  apply  it  to  the  recon- 
struction of  St.  Louis  and  of  the  nation.  For  the  true  issue  of 
the  war  is  the  issue  of  the  HCAV  century,  the  need  of  socializing 
and  democratizing  the  modern  industrial  community.  And 
the  war  must  have  taught  the  least  discerning  among  us  what 
may  be  accomplished  when  all  elements  work  together  for  the 
common  good. 

The  issue,  in  brief,  is  democracy,  and  democracy  today  has 
become  a  scientific  experiment.  The  City  Plan  Commission  is 
asking  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  to  inaugurate  that  experi- 
ment. Science  must  indeed  be  employed  for  the  advancement 
of  industry  in  behalf  of  commercial  prosperity,  but  also  for 
human  contentment  and  human  growth,  without  which  com- 
mercial prosperity  is  Avorthless.  The  plan,  therefore,  has  been 
drawn  up  by  experts,  and  takes  into  account  that  most  hu- 
man of  all  sciences,  Social  Science.  It  calls  upon  St.  Louis  to 
assume  leadership  among  other  cities  in  the  advancement  of 
social  science. 

Only  by  forethought  can  the  city  hope  to  take  advantage  of 
vast  commercial  opportunities  which  the  new  era  is  to  bring 
forth.  The  Plan  Commission  aims  to  take  immediate  and  ef- 
fective steps  to  relieve  the  Mississippi  river,  the  city's  greatest 
natural  resource,  from  bankruptcy.  The  River  des  Peres 
scheme  must  appeal  to  all  modern  minded  men  who  are  con- 
vinced of  the  hopelessness  of  future  individual  effort;  who 
know  that  the  time  has  come — if  the  city  is  to  prosper — to  re- 
place individual  effort  by  community  forehandedness.  The 
development  of  the  terminal  system,  the  construction  of  new 


8 CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 

bridges,  logically  follow.  While  without  adequate  sewers, 
water  supply  and  scientific  garbage  disposal,  the  money  for 
all  industrial  improvements  will  have  been  spent  in  vain. 

So  much  for  competition  with  other  cities  in  industrial 
growth — now  a  community  affair,  and  delivered  into  the  hands 
of  a  group  of  trained  men.  But  here  competition  ends — com- 
petition defined  as  an  effort  directed  solely  for  material  gains 
— and  emulation  begins.  Emulation  will  be  the  keynote  of  the 
Twentieth  Century  and  the  city  that  neglects  it  will  fall  hope- 
lessly behind.  Other  cities  of  America  with  fewer  natural  re- 
sources than  St.  Louis  are  beginning  to  be  keenly  alive  to  the 
fact  that  beauty  and  art,  comfort,  cleanliness,  opportunities 
for  rational  amusements,  desirable  homes  and  surroundings 
for  the  workers  and  families  of  moderate  means  are  also  es- 
sentials. For  who  shall  declare,  even  of  a  city,  where  the 
body  ends  and  the  soul  begins? 

The  slum,  as  centuries  go,  is  not  so  very  old.  It  dates  from 
the  introduction  of  machinery,  from  the  beginning  of  the  in- 
dustrial age  of  utilitarianism,  a  short-sighted  philosophy  sac- 
rificing imperative  needs  in  the  life  of  man  to  what  we  call 
prosperity.  Utilitarianism  has  been  the  curse  of  America  and 
had  it  not  so  blinded  us  we  should  have  long  ago  realized  that 
the  mean  housing  of  workers,  even  from  an  economic  point  of 
view,  is  the  worst  possible  long-run  policy.  The  concerted 
social  efforts  demanded  by  the  war,  the  knowledge  gained 
that  all  elements  of  a  community  must  stand  or  fall  together, 
must  emancipate  us  from  this  fallacy.  And  our  Federal  Gov- 
ernment at  once  recognized  that  workers  could  not  be  called 
upon  to  toil  for  the  greatest  of  human  causes  unless  that  cause 
itself  were  embodied  in  the  government's  dealings  with  them 
— unless  they  were  properly  housed  and  their  lives  made  full. 
The  cause  for  which  the  war  was  fought  has  now  ceased  with 
the  war's  end.  In  the  future  a  man  will  not  labor  for  a  com- 
munity, or  remain  in  it,  that  does  not  see  to  it  that  the  wants 
of  his  nature  are  fulfilled.  Proper  housing,  the  maintenance 
of  a  high  standard  of  living  must  be,  if  not  the  city's  task,  at 
least  the  city's  responsibility. 

Of  no  less  importance  is  the  programme  for  adequate  play- 
grounds and  parks,  and  community  centres  for  children  as 
well  as  for  adults.  Education  is  indeed  the  cornerstone  of 


INTRODUCTION 


democracy,  but  education  is  of  no  avail  to  a  feeble  mind  or  a 
stunted  brain,  and  a  sound  body  is  the  first  requisite  of  good 
citizenship.  That  the  city  streets  as  playgrounds  breed  dis- 
ease and  vice  and  crime  is  a  truth  needing  no  comment.  The 
benefit  accruing  from  the  playgrounds  already  in  existence 
must  be  apparent  to  all  thoughtful  citizens,  and  that  the  child 
of  the  well-to-do  alone  should  have  good  air  and  sunlight  in 
which  to  exercise  and  grow  presupposes  a  continuance  of  the 
narrower  view  of  community  prosperity,  of  a  wealth  domina- 
tion, economic  and  political,  that  for  the  future  good  of  the 
social  body  and  soul  cannot  be  permitted  to  continue.  And 
for  those  who  cannot  afford  country  homes  the  city  must  pro- 
vide a  recreation  park  such  as  that  suggested  by  the  Commis- 
sion, on  the  bluffs  of  the  Missouri. 

It  has  been  cynically  declared  that  human  nature  does  not 
change.  But  our  correlated  knowledge  of  human  nature,  of 
the  mainsprings  of  men's  actions,  has  increased  more  in  the 
last  three  decades  than  in  all  the  former  years  of  the  world's 
history  put  together.  This  is  due  to  the  great  strides  made  in 
psychology,  which  is  at  the  base  of  social  science.  And  we 
are  now  at  last  in  a  position  to  apply  our  knowledge  of  the 
human  mind  to  social  evils  that  have  ravaged  our  communi- 
ties in  the  past;  and  we  discover  that  human  nature  takes  a 
terrible  vengeance  on  the  community,  and  on  itself  if  certain 
fundamental  instincts  are  thwarted  or  denied.  One  of  man's 
necessities  is  for  relaxation,  recreation  and  amusement.  This, 
too,  must  become  a  charge  on  the  community,  and  a  beginning 
must  be  made  by  increasing  the  acreage  of  the  city  parks. 
Moreover,  what  is  called  by  psychologists,  the  "herd  instinct" 
must  likewise  be  satisfied.  This  instinct,  gone  wrong,  mani- 
fests itself  in  mobs  and  riots;  properly  provided  for  in  com- 
munity centres,  clubs  and  forums  for  the  discussion  of  pub- 
lic questions,  and  the  educational  exchange  of  ideas,  it  pro- 
vides for  a  gregarious  need.  In  recognition  of  this  arises  the 
proposal  of  the  Commission  for  a  great  community  Audito- 
rium, one  Avhich  will  house,  not  only  the  exhibits  of  commerce, 
serve  as  centre  for  music  and  even  for  art,  but  which  will 
provide  a  meeting  place  for  all  the  citizens  to  hear,  and  per- 
haps to  debate  as  well,  matters  of  community,  national  and 
world  import. 


10 


Psychology  and  the  new  social  science  has  brought  home  to 
us  the  gospel  saying  that  man  does  not  live  by  bread  alone. 
Bread  is  essential,  but  beauty  and  art  are  equally  so — if  by 
''living"  we  mean  more  than  mere  existence.  Nor  indeed  is 
there  any  good  reason  why  commerce  should  be  divorced  from 
beauty  and  the  arts.  No  city  can  be  a  permanently  happy 
city  in  which  a  large  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  dwell  in 
sordid  surroundings;  in  which,  in  contrast  to  a  Portland  or  a 
Westmoreland  Place,  there  are  dreary  streets  to  oppress  and 
retard  the  spirit  of  man. 

Little  by  little  these  streets  must  disappear.  Even  as  the 
new  social  fabric  of  co-operation  will  replace  the  old  structure 
of  utilitarianism  and  individualism,  so  the  old  structure  of 
tenements  and  gloomy  buildings  must  vanish  as  fast  as  it  lies 
within  the  ability  of  an  energetic  and  idealistic  city  to  cope 
with  the  task.  In  the  plan  an  appropriate  beginning  is  made 
by  the  projection  of  a  system  of  boulevards,  cutting  through 
ugly  districts  now  to  be  dedicated  to  neAV  uses,  by  widening 
arteries  already  in  existence;  while  the  public  buildings,  civic 
and  federal,  including  the  auditorium — the  city  forum — uni- 
fied in  design,  will  for  convenience  and  beauty  be  grouped  in 
one  great  community  centre. 

The  war  has  revealed  to  us,  as  nothing  else  could  have  done, 
the  tremendous  resources  of  our  American  communities.  It 
has  proved  that  we  not  only  have  vast  sums  of  money  to 
spend  and  lend,  but  that  we  are  willing  to  spend  and  lend 
them  for  a  purpose  appealing  to  hearts  and  minds.  If  the  war 
had  gone  on,  we  should  have  continued  our  giving  and  lend- 
ing on  an  even  greater  scale  than  heretofore.  The  people  of 
St.  Louis  are  now  called  upon  to  give  and  lend  for  the  con- 
summation and  conservation  of  that  for  which  their  soldiers 
have  fought  and  died,  the  building  up  of  a  community  which, 
in  its  regard  for  the  welfare,  contentment  and  true  happiness 
of  all,  will  be  a  leader  among  communities. 

Sometimes  the  ties  of  early  years,  as  well  as  the  knowledge 
of  the  meaning  and  value  of  these  ties,  grow  stronger  with 
the  passing  of  time.  It  has  been  so  in  my  case.  And  this  be- 
ing so,  I  cannot  doubt  the  answer  which  St.  Louis  will  make 
to  the  call  of  American  Reconstruction. 


'ATT. 


ST.  LOUIS  AFTER  THE  WAR 

It  being  a  function  of  the  City  Plan  Commission,  as  pro- 
vided by  ordinance,  to  make  such  recommendations  as  will 
"tend  to  make  St.  Louis  a  greater  city,"  the  following  facts 
and  conclusions  respecting  future  public  work  in  St.  Louis 
have  been  prepared  for  consideration  at  a  time  when  no  city 
which  claims  or  aspires  to  greatness  can  afford  to  ignore  its 
responsibilities.  The  burden  of  ''reconstruction,"  the  term 
we  now  choose  to  describe  the  period  following  the  close  of 
the  war,  will  fall  largely  upon  the  cities — the  centers  of  com- 
merce and  industry.  What  is.  St.  Louis'  responsibility  in  the 
reconstruction  program? 

St.  Louis'  Responsibility  in  the  Reconstruction  Period 

In  accordance  with  the  executive  order  issued  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  on  May  11,  1918,  the  National  Re- 
search Council,  through  its  committee  on  reconstruction,  is 
making  a  study  of  after-war  or  reconstruction  problems.  This 
committee  has  defined  "reconstruction"  as  "the  rebuilding 
on  normal  peace  lines  of  the  activities,  mental  and  physical, 
with  such  improvement  or  advance  in  ideals,  methods  and  ma- 
chinery as  may  have  been  made  possible  by  recent  experience. 
It  begins  primarily  with  the  returning  soldier,  in  his  rehabili- 
tation if  necessary,  and  his  return  to  the  industry  which  best 
suits  his  capacities  and  desires.  It  includes  the  placing  of 
other  war  workers  as  conditions  change  and  of  any  human 
effort  where  it  may  be  most  effective.  It  means  better  use  of 
our  natural  resources  in  lands,  minerals,  waters  and  forests, 
to  furnish  larger  and  more  nearly  equal  opportunities  for  each 
citizen  and  the  placing  of  industry,  including  agriculture, 
mining  and  transportation,  on  a  basis  to  meet  the  changed 
needs  of  the  country.  In  short,  it  means  the  intelligent  plan- 
ning1 and  execution  of  plans  for  a  better  community.  The 
scope  of  research  is  defined  as  research  for  reconstruction 

11 


12 CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 

which  should  touch  upon  all  lines  of  science  and  especially 
their  application  to  the  public  welfare." 

St.  Louis,  then,  should  plan  and  EXECUTE  plans  for  the 
betterment  of  the  community.  But  what  kind  of  plans  shall 
they  be?  Certainly,  we  would  not  wish  to  execute  plans  for 
the  mere  pleasure  of  expending  money  or  which  will  not  of 
themselves  produce  a  return  in  money  or  in  conservation  or 
preservation  of  life.  The  above  definition  of  reconstruction 
gives  the  answer  quite  clearly.  Could  anything.be  more  dis- 
tinctly a  "better  use  of  our  natural  resources  in  ... 
waters"  than  the  development  of  our  riverfront  for  industrial 
and  transportation  purposes,  for  instance?  Could  anything 
be  more  in  the  interest  of  public  welfare  than  the  building  of 
much  needed  sewers  and  a  new  waterworks,  when  conditions 
justify  their  construction?  Or,  taking  the  rehabilitation  of  the 
returning  soldier  as  a  first  essential  and  assuming  a  temporary 
period  of  industrial  inactivity,  Avhich  is  at  least  possible,  would 
not  the  execution  of  the  River  des  Peres  Plan  furnish  wel- 
come temporary  employment  to  hundreds  if  not  thousands  of 
returning  soldiers  already  experienced  in  large  works  of  this 
nature  involving  the  building  of  bridges,  railroads,  sewers, 
grading,  excavating,  etc.?  Certainly  these  are  logical  conclu- 
sions. Other  cities  are  beginning  to  reach  similar  conclusions. 
But,  to  postpone  for  the  moment,  consideration  of  specific 
plans,  let  us  consider  the  position  of  St.  Louis  with  respect  to 
other  large  cities,  to  the  nation  at  large  and  its  ability  to  un- 
dertake large  public  works. 

The  Opportunity  of  St.  Louis 

Previous  to  the  Civil  War,  St.  Louis  was  the  metropolis  of 
the  Central  West.  It  was  the  leading  railroad  center  as  well 
as  the  largest  city  in  point  of  population  and  manufactures 
west  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains.  Being  virtually  on  the 
boundary  line  between  North  and  South,  and  itself  the  scene 
of  numerous  outbreaks,  the  four  years  of  comparative  inac- 
tivity from  1861-1865  were  sufficient  to  divert  the  channels  of 
industry  and  traffic  elsewhere  and  Chicago  assumed  a  lead 
which  St.  Louis  has  never  since  been  able  to  overcome.  With 
the  outbreak  of  the  European  War  in  1914  industrial  condi- 


ST.  LOUIS  AFTER  THE  WAR  13 


tions  in  the  United  States  were  considerably  affected  and  con- 
tinuously so  until  1917,  when  this  country  entered  the  war, 
when  industrial  conditions  underwent  the  greatest  revolution 
they  have  ever  experienced.  Disregarding  the  reasons,  it  is  a 
well  known  fact  that  the  great  majority  of  war  industries  are 
located  along  or  adjacent  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  For  va- 
rious reasons  the  federal  government  has  recently  seen  fit  to 
attempt  a  decentralization,  at  least  so  far  as  new  industries 
are  concerned,  but  St.  Louis  and  other  mid-western  cities  have 
not  secured  anything  like  the  proportion  existing  in  the  east- 
ern cities.  St.  Louis  and  other  cities  of  the  middle  west  have 
seen  their  ranks  of  industrial  workers  and  business  men  some- 
what depleted  because  of  the  demand  for  men  in  the  ship- 
yards and  war  industries  of  the  east.  In  this  temporary  re- 
alignment of  industry  some  have  seen,  or  professed  to  see,  a 
further  detriment  to  the  future  development  of  St.  Louis,  in- 
dustrial and  otherwise.  But  is  this  actually  the  case? 

Our  war  industries  have  been  more  or  less  of  a  mushroom 
character.  Unlike  Germany,  we  have  never  conceived  an  in- 
dustrialism based  on  the  demands  of  Avar,  nor  do  we  now.  It 
is  questionable,  therefore,  how  much  of  permanent  benefit 
will  accrue  to  eastern  cities  as  a  result  of  the  war  industries. 
Their  very  presence  in  some  cases,  will  prove  to  be  a  serious 
after-the-war  problem.  Few  eastern  cities  have  had  the  fore- 
sight or  the  time  to  so  plan  for  their  war  industrial  expan- 
sion as  to  make  of  it  a  decided  factor  in  the  future  develop- 
ment of  those  cities. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  war  has  brought  out  conclusively 
the  inadequacy  of  eastern  terminals  to  handle  the  output  of 
the  nation  and  certainly  this  nation  is  still  more  or  less  in  its 
infancy  from  a  production  standpoint.  The  war,  too,  has  em- 
phasized the  absurdity  of  our  previous  faith  in  railroads  to 
handle  economically  all  forms  of  traffic.  Inland  waterway  de- 
velopment has  become  an  economic  as  well  as  a  physical  neces 
sity,  and  we  may  safely  anticipate  it  on  very  nearly  as  great 
a  scale  as  the  development  of  the  railroads  in  the  last  half  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  The  rivers  of  Europe  are  used  as  ex- 
tensively as  the  railroads.  For  obvious  reasons  America  must 
do  likewise  following  the  war.  In  this  respect  probably  no 


14  CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 

city  has  greater  opportunities  than  St.  Louis,  particularly  if 
the  opportunity  is  seized  in  time. 

Industry  is  one  of  the  prime  requisites  of  modern  civiliza- 
tion. America  owes  much  of  its  present  greatness  to  the  mas- 
ter minds  that  have  here  developed  many  of  the  improved 
methods  of  industrial  efficiency.  The  stress  of  the  war  has 
produced  still  greater  advances  in  the  science  of  industry.  In 
the  period  of  reconstruction  which  follows  the  war,  science 
will  play  a  greater  part  than  ever  before  in  the  advancement 
of  industry.  One  result  which  should  inevitably  follow  is  the 
stimulation  of  manufacturing  products  near  the  centers  of 
production  of  raw  materials.  St.  Louis,  being  nearer  perhaps 
than  other  large  cities  to  many  of  the  great  production  cen- 
ters of  raw  materials  of  the  country,  should,  if  wisely  di- 
rected, become  an  ever  greater  center  of  manufacture  and  of 
industry.  In  the  manufacture  of  cotton  and  woolen  goods, 
tobacco,  agricultural  implements  and  as  a  grain  and  live  stock 
market,  St.  Louis  has  hardly  begun  to  attain  the  growth  its 
geographical  position  warrants. 

St.  Louis  now  possesses  a  terminal  system  reputed  to  be  the 
best  in  the  United  States,  if  not  in  the  world.  With  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Municipal  Railroad  Terminal  system  and  addi- 
tional river  terminals  there  will  be  unlimited  opportunity  for 
industrial  expansion. 

Not  the  least  of  the  lessons  that  America  is  learning  from 
the  war  is  the  importance  of  a  high  standard  of  living  for  all 
classes  of  men.  Good  homes  and  good  living  conditions  are 
absolutely  essential  to  industrial  efficiency  and  as  much  to  be 
desired  as  large  financial  returns,  if  not  infinitely  more  so. 
First  at  the  shipyards  and  now  near  war  industrial  plants 
throughout  the  country,  the  federal  government  has  seen  fit 
and  necessary  to  provide  houses  for  workmen  and  their  fam- 
ilies of  a  standard  far  better  than  anything  ever  attempted 
in  this  country  before.  European  nations  have  long  realized 
and  attempted  to  meet  this  condition,  and  they  are  contem- 
plating expenditures  of  billions  of  dollars  on  housing  after 
the  war.  St.  Louis  offers  opportunities  for  good  housing  and 
good  living  conditions  fully  as  desirable  as  other  great  cities, 
though  it  has  done  no  more  than  most  of  them  to  advance 


ST.  LOUIS  AFTER  THE  WAR  15 

these  opportunities.  The  prevailing  high  wages  of  labor  often 
raises  the  question  of  what  will  happen  in  the  period  of  read- 
justment which  follows  the  war.  Of  this  we  may  be  certain, 
that  whether  the  providing  of  good  housing  conditions  be- 
comes a  question  of  organizing  national,  state,  municipal  or 
private  credit,  the  lower  paid  wage  earners  will  not  return  to 
the  old  sullen,  sordid,  vitiating  environment  of  the  slums  and 
tenements.  Labor  is  the  biggest  individual  factor  in  industry 
and  the  city  which  offers  to  the  industrial  wage  earners  the 
best  housing  conditions  will  be  a  leading  industrial  city,  other 
things  being  equal.  Conditions  in  the  shipyards  and  munition 
plants  since  the  war  started  have  proved  that  labor  cannot  be 
attracted  and  held  content  merely  by  high  wages.  Conditions 
conducive  to  good  home  life  and  good  community  life  arc 
fully  as  important  to  labor.  Hence  the  National  Research 
Council  Committee 's  stress  on  ' '  plans  for  a  better  community. ' ' 
Though  there  may  be  no  precedent  for  such  action  in  America, 
there  is  no  reason  why  St.  Louis  should  not  at  least  consider 
the  expenditure  of  money  for  the  improvement  of  housing 
conditions  whether  it  be  the  construction  of  more  desirable 
houses  for  low  paid  workers  as  was  done  in  Toronto,  or  the 
reconstruction  of  unsuited  or  unsanitary  areas  as  was  done 
in  London.  The  power  of  excess  condemnation,  if  granted  by 
the  state,  would  serve  to  reduce  materially  the  cost  of  any 
work  of  this  character  that  might  be  undertaken. 

Financial  Standing  of  St.  Louis 

Comparing  the  financial  position  of  St.  Louis  with  that  of 
the  nine  other  largest  cities  of  the  United  States,  its  rank  in 
tax  rate,  based  on  estimated  true  value  for  city,  state  and 
school  taxes,  is  ninth;  in  assessed  valuation  per  capita,  fifth; 
in  total  assessed  value  of  property,  ninth;  in  net  bonded  in- 
debtedness, ninth;  and  in  per  capita  bonded  indebtedness, 
ninth.  In  other  words  St.  Louis  has  a  lower  tax  rate,  lower 
assessed  value  of  property  and  bonded  indebtedness  than  all 
but  one  of  the  nine  other  large  cities  of  the  country,  indicating 
its  ability  to  undertake  expenditures  for  large  public  works 
without  proportionately  exceeding  what  other  cities  of  its  size 


16 


and  rank  have  already  spent.  As  compared  with  Cleveland 
and  Detroit,  cities  more  nearly  of  the  size  and  rank  of  St. 
Louis,  this  city  has  a  total  assessed  value  of  property  nearly 
equal  to  them  but  a  tax  rate  of  only  about  half  that  of  De- 
troit and  approximately  20  per  cent  less  than  that  of  Cleve- 
land. St.  Louis'  total  net  debt  is  $15,776,447,  as  against  $57,- 
073,627  for  Cleveland,  for  instance. 

To  do  the  work  which  will  be  necessary  in  St.  Louis  will  re- 
quire additional  bond  issues  of  considerable  amounts.  The  re- 
port of  the  Comptroller  for  1917-1918  shows  that  on  April  1, 
1918,  the  net  outstanding  debt  of  St.  Louis  was  $12,159,214.11 
or  $20,525,785.89  less  than  the  limit  of  $32,685,000.00  which  is 
the  constitutional  limitation  of  5  per  cent  of  the  assessed  value 
of  property— $653,700,000.00  in  1917.  The  present  net  debt 
will  be  practically  all  retired  in  the  next  ten  years  but  the 
present  authorized  limit  is  scarcely  large  enough  to  warrant 
the  expenditures  which  St.  Louis  must  make  even  though  the 
revenue  producing  utilities  such  as  dock,  railroads,  municipal 
auditorium  and  convention  hall,  etc.,  be  exempted  from  the  5 
per  cent  limitation  as  is  now  the  case  with  waterworks  bonds. 
Philadelphia  recently  voted  to  issue  $114,000,000  in  bonds  for 
public  works  which  is  indicative  of  what  St.  Louis  must  do  if 
it  is  to  keep  apace  of  other  large  cities,  particularly  Cleveland 
and  Detroit. 

St.  Louis  enjoys  an  enviable  position  financially.  It  is  one 
of  the  few  large  cities  living  within  its  income.  Its  expenses, 
governmental  and  non-governmental,  are  smaller  than  eight 
of  the  nine  other  large  cities  of  the  country,  and  its  per  capita 
cost  of  government  is  less  than  all  of  them,  though  this  is 
partly  to  be  explained  by  proportionately  smaller  receipts. 
Money  which  has  been  spent  on  public  works  has  been  well 
expended,  however,  for  among  the  ten  large  cities  St.  Louis 
stands  fifth  in  point  of  value  of  public  properties.  In  value  of 
public  properties  for  various  purposes  St.  Louis  ranks  fifth  in 
charities,  hospitals,  etc.,  sixth  in  school  buildings,  eighth  in 
recreation,  fourth  in  water  supply,  sixth  in  markets  and  sev- 
enth in  general  government. 

In  advocating  additional  expenditure  for  public  works,  it  is 
plainly  evident  that  not  only  can  St.  Louis  afford  to  meet  the 


ST.  LOUIS  AFTER  THE  WAR  17 

cost,  but  that  in  making  these  improvements  this  city  will  be 
merely  assuming  its  normal  rank  among  the  large  cities  of  the 
country.  In  the  last  ten  years  no  bonds  have  been  issued  for 
any  public  works  except  schools.  For  public  sewers,  as  an  in- 
stance, .no  bonds  have  been  authorized  since  1906,  and  then 
only  $1,500,000  were  issued,  and  the  city  has  increased  con- 
siderably over  100,000  in  population  since  that  time.  The 
Board  of  Public  Service  estimates  that  the  cost  of  public 
sewers  to  meet  immediate  needs,  as  well  as  those  of  the  next 
ten  years  is  $18,865,000,  including  River  des  Peres,  based  on 
present  prices  of  construction  materials,  which  figures  will 
probably  be  reduced  somewhat  by  the  time  any  construction 
work  can  actually  begin. 

During  the  past  few  years  St.  Louis  has  been  making  some 
few  permanent  improvements  with  payments  out  of  the  cur- 
rent revenue,  such  as  acquisition  of  a  few  park  properties, 
erecting  some  public  buildings,  etc.,  at  an  annual  expense  in 
some  years  of  approximately  $1,000,000.  This  would  be  a  wise 
policy  to  continue  if  it  would  produce  all  of  the  needed  im- 
provements, but  it  will  not.  This  policy  prevents  the  under- 
taking of  public  improvements  as  they  are  needed  and  places 
the  burden  of  expense  entirely  upon  the  present  generation 
instead  of  in  part  upon  the  future  generation' who  will  derive 
benefit  therefrom. 

Another  handicap  under  which  St.  Louis  labors,  a  handicap 
which  should  soon  be  corrected,  is  the  requirement  of  the  state 
constitution  making  the  term  of  all  bonds  twenty  years,  irre- 
spective of  the  life  of  the  improvement  against  Avhich  the 
bonds  are  issued.  If  bonds  were  to  be  issued  for  a  pavement, 
for  instance,  whose  estimated  life  was  10  years  or  for  a  build- 
ing to  last  50  or  100  years,  under  present  requirements  only 
20-year  bonds  could  be  issued.  The  life  of  all  bonds  should 
be  made  to  correspond  with  the  useful  life  of  the  improvement 
for  which  it  is  issued. 

Industrial  Position  of  St.  Louis 

"While  industry  is  essential  to  civic  greatness,  no  city  can 
long  remain  a  successful  industrial  center  which  is  not  pro- 


18  CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 

gressive  in  municipal  work.  The  relation  is  reciprocal.  St. 
Louis  has  the  opportunity  to  become  a  leader  among  cities  in 
both  respects,  though  how  long  the  opportunity  will  remain 
is  questionable.  Comparing  the  industrial  situation  of  St. 
Louis  with  other  large  cities,  as  shown  by  statistics  of  the 
Bureau  of  the  Census,  we  find  that  among  the  ten  large  cities 
of  the  country  St.  Louis  ranks  fifth  in  number  of  manufactur- 
ing plants,  value  of  products,  value  added  by  manufacture  of 
products,  sixth  in  number  of  wage  earners,  wages  paid  and 
ninth  in  wages  per  individual.  This  rank,  however,  seems  to 
be  due  to  previous  rather  than  recent  growth  for  the  per 
cent  of  increase  for  the  ten  largest  cities  from  1909  to  1914 
shows  St.  Louis  to  be  lowest  of  all  in  number  of  wage  earners 
and  next  to  lowest  in  value  of  products.  The  percentage  of 
industrial  growth  of  St.  Louis  from  1905  to  1914  as  compared 
with  that  of  Cleveland  and  Detroit  is  even  more  graphically 
illustrative  of  a  needed  stimulus  in  St.  Louis. 

Table  Showing  Percentage  of  Increase,  1905-1914 

No.  of  Mfg.  No.  Wage  Value  of 

Plants       Earners      Wages     Products 

St.  Louis 12%  03%  20%  35% 

Cleveland 39%  61%          101%          105% 

Detroit 49%  105%          208%          212% 

Among  the  ten  largest  cities  of  the  country  for  the  same 
period  St.  Louis  ranks  only  ahead  of  Pittsburg. 

One  reason  for  lack  of  great  industrial  increase  in  St.  Louis 
during  the  past  few  years  has  been  the  shortage  of  cheap  in- 
dustrial land,  particularly  along  the  railroads.  This  condition 
would  at  least  in  part  be  remedied  by  execution  of  the  River 
des  Peres  Plan  and  the  extension  and  completion  of  the  Muni- 
cipal Terminal  Railroad  System.  By  proper  development  of 
the  river  front  much  additional  industrial  land  can  be  secured. 
Each  of  these  undertakings  involves  the  expenditure  of  public 
funds  for  the  stimulation  of  industrial  activity,  a  reasonable 
procedure  if  the  expenditures  can  be  justified  financially  and 
the  public  interest  be  promoted. 


Specific  Public  Work  Needed 
In  St.  Louis 

A  list  of  the  specific  public  work  needed  in  St.  Louis,  and 
their  estimated  cost  is  shown  in  a  table  below.  To  construct 
or  undertake  many  of  these  projects  under  present  prices 
would  cost  considerably  more,  but  it  is  assumed  that  prices 
are  now  abnormal  and  that  after  the  war  they  will  return 
reasonably  close  to  former  figures.  Most  of  the  costs  shown 
in  the  accompanying  table  were  prepared  in  1916  and  1917 
when  it  was  proposed  to  have  held  a  referendum  on  a  bond 
issue  for  certain  of  these  improvements : 

Table  Showing  Specific  Public  Work  Needed 
in  St.  Louis 

Riverfront  Improvements  $25,000,000 

Additional  Water  Works 20,000,000 

Public  Buildings  and  Group  Plan 15,000,000 

River  des  Peres  Plan 11,375,000 

Park  and  Playground  System 6,500,000 

Public  Sewers 5,205,000 

Street  Openings  (City's  share)  2,500,000 

Bridges,  Viaducts,  Grade  Crossing  Removal 

(City's  share)   3,192,000 

Municipal  Auditorium 2,500,000 

Miscellaneous, 

Markets $750,000 

Farms • 700,000 

Koch  Hospital 250,000 

Street  Dept 450,000     2,150,000 

Garbage  Disposal 550,000 

Housing 

Transit  . 


$93,972,000 

From  this  table  it  is  quite  evident  that  under  our  present 
restrictions  on  bonded  debt  the  city  could  not  undertake  the 
improvements  that  it  needs.  Bonds  for  waterworks  are  not  in- 

19 


20  CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 

eluded  in  the  bond  limit  so  that  if  bonds  for  transit  and  housing, 
if  ever  any  were  needed,  could  also  be  exempted  and  the  bond 
limit  of  5  per  cent  on  assessed  valuation  increased  to  10  per 
cent,  it  would  just  about  enable  the  city  to  undertake  the 
needed  work.  The  low  total  of  assessed  valuation  in  St.  Louis 
as  compared  with  other  large  cities  would  indicate  the  desir- 
ability of  an  increase  somewhere,  but  any  possible  increase 
would  probably  not  be  sufficient  to  raise  the  bonded  debt 
limit  to  its  desired  size.  That  St.  Louis  is  virtually  alone 
among  the  large  cities  in  being  so  restricted  in  its  debt  limit 
is  indicated  by  the  following  table  of  per  cent  of  assessed 
value  of  property  in  outstanding  bonded  indebtedness  com- 
piled from  the  publications  of  the  U.  S.  Census  Bureau  for 
1915: 

Table  Showing  Per  Cent  of  Total  Assessed  Valuation  in 

Present  Bonded  Debt 
City  Per  Cent 

New  York 15.4 

Chicago 10.6 

Philadelphia 5.7 

St.  Louis 3.4 

Boston 8.1 

Cleveland 8.2 

Baltimore 11.7 

Pittsburg 8.7 

Detroit 4.1 

Los  Angeles 12.7 

Since  the  date  when  these  figures  were  compiled,  Philadel- 
phia has  issued  $114,000,000  in  bonds  which  would  substan- 
tially increase  its  percentage;  while  Cleveland  and  Detroit 
have  both  had  additional  bond  issues  and  many  cities  in  the 
list  need  or  are  considering  additional  issues. 

Riverfront  Improvements 

The  City  Plan  Commission  has  not  yet  completed  and  pub- 
lished its  plans  for  the  improvement  of  the  riverfront,  though 
this  will  be  done  in  the  next  few  months.  Until  this  work  is 
finished  a  definite  estimate  of  the  cost  of  all  the  projects  in- 
volved is  more  or  less  difficult.  The  improvement  of  the  river- 
front involves  several  more  or  less  distinct  features,  however, 


ST.  LOUIS  AFTER  THE  WAR 21 

whose  cost  can  be  approximated.  First,  terminals  are  or  will 
be  needed  similar  to  that  already  constructed  at  North  Mar- 
ket street  costing  in  all  from  $3,000,000  to  $5,000,000.  These 
terminals  must  have  ample  railroad  facilities  and  this  involves 
the  extension  of  the  Municipal  Railroad  'Terminal  System 
throughout  the  entire  riverfront,  connecting  with  all  railroads 
entering  the  city,  acquisition  of  sites  and  construction  of 
freight  yards  and  freight  houses,  connection  with  the  Munici- 
pal Bridge,  all  to  cost  probably  $3,000,000.  There  is  also  the 
problem  of  reconstruction  and  rehabilitation  of  the  riverfront 
between  the  two  bridges,  the  cost  of  which  is  problematical, 
depending  upon  the  character  of  plan  adopted.  Perhaps  a 
still  more  important  part  of  the  riverfront  problem  is  the  re- 
clamation of  a  substantial  area  for  intensive  industrial  use, 
for  the  need  of  additional  low  price  land  in  St.  Louis  is  evi- 
dent. The  cost  of  this  character  of  work  is  now  problematical 
depending  upon  the  character  of  plan  adopted. 

The  total  estimated  cost  of  $25,000,000  is  not  an  excessive 
figure  when  compared  with  the  present  value  of,  waterfront 
improvements  in  other  large  cities  as  shown  below : 

Table    Showing    Value    of   Waterfront    Property    and    Im- 
provements in  Various  Cities 

New  York $161,000,000 

Philadelphia   14,622,076 

Baltimore 7,230,087 

New  Orleans    9,063,970 

Chicago 4,252,433 

Portland,   Oregon    2,535,741 

St.  Louis,  N.  Market  Street  Dock 800,000 

If  St.  Louis  expects  any  extensive  development  in  river 
traffic  it  must  take  the  iniative  as  the  largest  and  most  in- 
fluential city  on  the  river  and  the  city  which  expects  most 
value  to  accrue  to  it  from  the  renewed  use  of  the  river  for 
transportation  purposes.  The  federal  government  will  un- 
doubtedly spend  money  to  encourage  river  development,  in 
fact,  is  now  doing  so  but  St.  Louis,  as  the  largest  prospective 
beneficiary  must  do  its  share.  Federal  aid  will  come  the  more 
readily  when  the  city  shows  an  interest  backed  up  by  appro- 


22 CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 

priations.  A  characteristic  example  of  what  St.  Louis  should 
do  is  furnished  by  the  City  of  Los  Angeles  which  IN  ANTICI- 
PATION of  the  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal  and  probable 
traffic  resulting  therefrom,  drew  a  plan  for  the  improvement 
of  San  Pedro  HaTbor  totalling  $40,000,000  of  which  sum  be- 
tween $15,000,000  and  $20,000,000  has  now  been  spent.  Various 
other  illustrations  could  be  given  of  how  New  York  City's 
municipally-owned  waterfront  properties  are  a  lucrative 
source  of  annual  income,  of  recent  expenditures  at  Baltimore, 
Philadelphia,  Boston  and  of  other  expenditures  now  being 
made  or  about  to  be  made  in  various  cities.  In  any  analysis 
of  this  situation  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  St.  Louis  can  fail  to 
appreciate  and  accept  its  responsibilities.  Time  was  when 
riverfront  development  in  anticipation  of  revival  of  river 
transportation  because  of  existing  railroad  conditions,  might 
have  been  more  or  less  speculative,  but  the  war  has  changed 
all  these  conditions.  From  this  time  forward  waterway  traffic 
will  be  as  important  as  rail  traffic  and  so  accepted  by  the  gov- 
ernment and  the  railroads.  European  cities  have  long  proved 
the  ability  of  rivers  no  deeper  than  the  Mississippi  to  carry 
extensive  traffic. 

f      Waterworks  Extension 

In  the  face  of  all  that  has  been  said  and  written  concerning 
the  desirability  of  additional  waterworks  facilities  for  St. 
Louis,  it  seems  unnecessary  to  again  repeat  the  existing  facts, 
nevertheless  the  urgency  for  an  extension  of  the  waterworks 
facilities  seems  to  receive  but  passive  interest  by  the  city  at 
large.  Perhaps  only  a  serious  accident  or  calamity  will  serve 
to  prove  the  desirability  of  a  much  needed  additional  water- 
works plant,  as  recommended  by  the  Water  Commissioner. 
The  present  capacity  of  the  Chain  of  Rocks  Plant  is  approxi- 
mately 150,000,000  gallons  per  day  and  during  the  last  few 
summers  this  plant  has  been  forced  to  its  full  capacity  for 
many  consecutive  days.  Some  years  ago  a  study  was  made 
of  the  best  possible  source  of  water  supply  for  St.  Louis  and 
as  a  result  of  that  study  it  has  been  more  or  less  conclusively 
proven  that  any  additional  water  supply  plant  should  not  be 


ST.  LOUIS  AFTER  THE  WAR  23 

built  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Chain  of  Rocks  but  on  the  Missouri 
River  near  Creve  Coeur  Lake.  Topography  and  other  condi- 
tions will  make  this  the  most  economical  and  most  desirable 
method  of  increasing  our  water  supply  facilities.  Such  a 
plant  could  supply  the  entire  southern  and  southwestern  half 
of  the  city  and  greatly  relieve  the  burden  now  placed  upon 
the  present  plant  in  supplying  water  to  remote  sections  in  this 
part  of  the  city. 

Any  extensive  industrial  development  in  the  River  des 
Peres  Valley  would  at  once  necessitate  an  increase  in  the 
water  supply  which  our  present  facilities  are  incapable  of  pro- 
viding. The  site  in  the  River  des  Peres  Valley  given  serious 
consideration  by  the  Government  for  its  prospective  armor 
plate  plant  in  1917,  would  have  been  without  the  full  water 
supply  requirements  of  that  plant.  Inasmuch  as  bonds  for 
waterworks  are  excluded  from  the  present  debt  limit  and  par- 
ticularly since  water  supply  is  one  of  the  best  paying  of  all 
public  utilities,  there  seems  to  be  little  or  no  excuse  for  not 
authorizing  the  bonds  needed  for  a  new  water  supply  plant 
on  the  Missouri  River.  The  cost  of  this  plant  was  estimated 
to  be  $20,000,000  in  1916.  Its  probable  present  cost  would  be 
in  the  neighborhood  of  $30,000,000.  It  is  likely  that  by  the 
time  construction  can  be  undertaken,  prices  will  very  nearly 
return  to  their  pre-war  level. 

Public  Buildings  and  Public  Building  Group  Plan 

Within  the  next  few  years  St.  Louis  will  need  several  new 
public  buildings  including  a  new  court  house,  a  municipal 
auditorium  and  convention  hall  and  possibly  a  hall  of  records. 
It  is  also  quite  probable  that  the  state  as  well  as  the  federal 
government  will  see  fit  to  erect  large  public  buildings  in  St. 
Louis  during  the  next  few  years. 

The  City  Plan  Commission  has  been  considering  a  plan 
whereby  all  of  these  buildings  could  be  grouped  about  a  com- 
mon center.  This  opportunity  comes  to  few  American  cities 
since  in  most  of  them  a  majority  of  their  public  buildings  have 
already  been  erected  in  accordance  with  no  definite  scheme. 
Aside  from  the  practical  advantage  of  having  these  buildings 


24  CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 

adjoining  one  another  so  far  as  conduct  of  public  affairs  is 
concerned,  there  is  the  additional  advantage  to  be  gained  in 
the  great  enhancement  of  improving  public  appearances  where 
a  group  plan  can  be  secured.  European  cities  have  spent 
large  sums  of  money  merely  to  create  impressive  grouping  of 
public  buildings.  New  York,  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  Cleve- 
land, Baltimore,  Denver,  Seattle  and  other  American  cities  are 
developing  public  building  group  plans.  With  the  present 
City  Hall  and  Municipal  Courts  Building  as  a  nucleus,  St. 
Louis  could  develop  economically  an  impressive  public  build- 
ing group  scheme  with  the  additional  public  buildings  yet  to 
be  built.  It  is  more  or  less  difficult  to .  estimate  the  cost  of 
such  a  plan.  The  estimate  of  $15,000,000  contained  in  the 
previous  table  should  probably  cover  the  cost  of  acquiring 
much  if  not  all  of  the  needed  land  and  for  constructing  such 
buildings  as  the  city  may  need.  Buildings  which  might  be 
erected  by  the  state,  by  the  federal  government  or  by  semi- 
public  institutions  would  be  financed  by  them  and  probably  in 
the  acquisition  of  sites  would  tend  materially  to  lessen  the 
city's  share  of  the  cost. 

River  des  Peres  Plan 

The  City  Plan  Comission  has  repeatedly  dwelt  at  so  much 
length  on  the  desirability  of  the  River  des  Peres  Plan  that  a 
reiteration  scarcely  seems  necessary.  The  estimated  cost  con- 
tained in  the  foregoing  table  of  needed  public  works  is  based 
on  the  estimates  made  for  the  sewer  and  channel,  railroad, 
driveway  and  viaducts  in  1917.  This  Commission  confidently 
believes  that  no  money  that  could  be  spent  by  the  city  of  St. 
Louis  could  be  more  profitably  invested  than  by  carrying  out 
the  River  des  Peres  Plan.  While  the  city  has  been  fortunate 
in  avoiding  flood  trouble  during  the  past  two  years  in  the 
River  des  Peres  Valley,  the  sewage  menace  is  becoming  in- 
creasingly greater,  while  the  lack  of  development  in  this  lo- 
cality still  tends  to  prohibit  the  growth  of  the  city  to  the 
southwest,  which  the  construction  of  the  channel  and  sewer, 
railroad,  driveway  and  viaduct  will  soon  overcome.  The  Com- 
mission estimates  that  within  a  comparatively  few  years  the 


ST.  LOUIS  AFTER  THE  WAR  25 

improvements  that  will  come  in  the  southwestern  section  of 
the  city  as  a  result  of  the  River  des  Peres  Plan  will  soon  re- 
turn to  the  city  in  taxes  many  times  the  cost  of  that  plan. 

Park  and  Playground  System 

On  very  limited  facilities  St.  Louis,  through  its  Depart- 
ment of  Parks  and  Recreation,  has  built  a  very  successful  an$ 
popular  public  recreation  system.  Because  of  the  splendid 
organization  of  this  recreation  system  over  a  period  of  years, 
St.  Louis  has  become  justly  proud  of  it  but  at  the  same  time 
"has  failed  to  appreciate  that  the  facilities  should  be  enlarged. 
Compared  with  the  ten  large  cities  of  the  country,  St.  Louis 
ranks  lowest  in  number  of  playgrounds,  eighth  in  value  .of 
land  and  equipment  for  recreation  purposes  and  seventh  in 
population  per  acre  of  parks — and  not  one  of  these  large  cities 
can  be  said  to  have  a  complete  park  and  recreation  system. 
Since  the  acquisition  of  Forest  Park  in  1876  the  increase  in 
park  area  in  St.  Louis  has  virtually  been  at  a  standstill.  A 
few  playgrounds  and  a  few  small  parks  have  been  acquired  in 
the  last  few  years,  but  their  total  acreage  has  been  practically 
negligible  when  compared  with  the  total  needed  to  bring  St. 
Louis  to  the  desired  mark  of  150  persons  per  acre  of  park — 
and  that  acreage  properly  distributed. 

The  study  of  the  supply  and  demand  for  public  recreation 
facilities  in  St.  Louis,  made  by  the  City  Plan  Commission,  dis- 
closed the  need  for  at  least  twenty  more  playgrounds  in  dis- 
tricts where  the -population  was  sufficiently  dense  to  warrant 
their  establishment,  ten  new  community  centers,  equipment 
for  making  community  centers  of  present  playgrounds,  and 
no  less  than  twenty-five  additional  neighborhood  parks — a 
peculiar  deficiency  especially  in  the  more  congested  sections  of 
St.  Louis.  In  addition  to  these  public  recreation  needs  St. 
Louis  should  acquire  at  least  one  or  two  more  large  parks 
within  the  city  limits  and  some  large  reservations  on  the 
Meramec  and  Missouri  River  Bluffs,  and  in  the  vicinity  of 
Creve  Coeur  Lake.  The  present  large  parks  and  the  proposed 
reservations  which,  could  now  be  acquired  cheaply,  should  then 
be  properly  connected  with  a  system  of  boulevards,  the  whole 


26  CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 


plan  being  similar  to  the  famous  Essex  County  Park  system 
in  New  Jersey.  St.  Louis  is  especially  deficient  in  boulevard 
development — the  State  of  Missouri  furnishing  two  cities  ex- 
emplifying the  two  extremes  of  boulevard  development,  Kan- 
sas City  and  St.  Louis,  with  St.  Louis  not  on  the  creditable  ex- 
treme, a  condition  which  cannot  be  attributed  to  lack  of  nat- 
ural advantages. 

By  spending  $6,500,000  on  public  recreation  St.  Louis  would 
scarcely  alter  its  rank  among  the  ten  large  cities  of  the  coun- 
try in  point  of  value  of  property  used  for  public  recreation 
purposes,  as  exemplified  by  the  following  table : 

Value  of   Land,    Buildings  and    Equipment  for   Public 

Recreation 

City                                                     Value  Rank 

New  York   $681,906,046  1 

Chicago 57,391,433  3 

Philadelphia 32,096,959  4 

St.  Louis    15,178,299  8 

Boston 69,611,600  2 

Cleveland 29,144,766  6 

Baltimore 7,317,728  10 

Pittsburg 18,533,412  7 

Detroit 30,294,214  5 

Los  Angeles   10,888,374  9 

The  expenditure  of  $6,500,000  for  public  recreation  facili- 
ties in  St.  Louis  as  previously  outlined,  however,  would  make 
possible  the  provision  of  recreation  service  probably  un- 
equalled in  any  city  and,  incidentally,  it  would  bring  returns 
in  the  enhancement  of  property  values  and  resulting  taxes 
many  times  its  cost. 

Public  Sewers 

The  need  for  additional  public  sewers  in  St.  Louis  has  be- 
come increasingly  urgent  with  an  ever  increasing  population. 
As  has  been  previously  stated,  no  bonds  for  public  sewers 
have  been  issued  since  1906  and  then  an  insufficient  sum  was 
provided.  It  is  impossible  to  provide  the  necessary  amount  of 
money  needed  out  of  the  current  revenue.  To  attempt  it 
would  be  to  jeopardize  the  public  health  through  long  delay 


ST.  LOUIS  AFTER  THE  WAR  27 

and  a  burdensome  tax  on  the  present  tax  payers.  The  sum  es- 
timated as  needed,  $5,205,000,  is  based  on  pre-war  costs  and 
does  not  include  the  River  des  Peres  sewer.  The  sewer  now, 
contemplated  as  necessary  are  Wherry  avenue,  Harlem  Ex- 
tension, North  Baden  extension,  Mill  Creek  laterals,  Rocky 
Branch  extension,  Southern  Arsenal,  Ferry  street,  additional 
inlets,  new  outlets  along  the  Mississippi  and  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  several  worn  out  sewers  in  the  eastern  section  of  the 
city. 

Street  Openings 

In  carrying  out  the  city  plan  several  large  street  extensions 
and  widenings  will  be  necessary  of  which  the  city  will  have  to 
assume  a  certain  proportion  of  the  cost.  This  includes  the  ex- 
tension of  Twelfth  street,  north  and  south,  widening  of  Gra- 
vois  avenue,  possible  widening  of  Olive  street  and  other  proj* 
ects  of  similar  importance  but  less  expensive.  In  determin- 
ing the  city's  share  of  the  cost  of  these  various  street  widen- 
ings and  extensions  it  is  proposed  to  follow  a  standard  method 
of  procedure  to  insure  absolute  justice  to  all  concerned.  The 
sum  of-  $2,500,000  contained  in  the -previous  table  of  needed 
public  works  will  probably  prove  to  be  sufficient,  though 
should  it  amount  to  a  somewhat  larger  sum  in  the  end,  the 
cost  will  be  many  times  justified  in  the  direct  benefits  to  be 
obtained. 

Bridges,  Viaducts  and  Grade  Crossing  Removal 

There  are  various  bridges  throughout  the  city  such  as  the 
14th  street  viaduct  and  Fyler  avenue  bridge  that  need  re- 
placing. At  certain  other  places  existing  grade  crossings 
must  be  removed  either  by  depression  or  elevation*  of  the  rail- 
road tracks.  Instances  of  this  are  the  Rock  Island  and  Wa- 
bash  tracks  west  of  Kingshighway  with  dangerous  grade  cross- 
ings now  existing  at  De  Baliviere,  Waterman  avenue  and  Del- 
mar  avenue ;  the  grade  crossing  at  Sarah*  street  and  Wabash 
tracks;  at  Kingshighway  and  at  Shaw  avenue  on  the  Oak  Hill 
branch  of  the  Iron  Mountain ;  at  Southwest  avenue  and  Mis- 
souri Pacific ;  at  Kingshighway  and  at  Euclid  avenue  on  the 
west  belt  of  the  Terminal  Railroad;  also  removal  of  grade 


28  CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 

crossings  along  the  Kirkwood-Carondelet  branch  of  the  Mis- 
souri Pacific  and  the  Oak  Hill  Railroad.  The  total  cost  of  the 
various  improvements  of  the  character  that  are  needed  is  in 
the  neighborhood  of  $8,000,000  of  which  the  city's  share  is 
estimated  at  $3,192,000. 

Municipal  Auditorium  and  Convention  Hall 

For  several  years  St.  Louis  has  been  in  need  of  a  large  mu- 
nicipal auditorium  and  convention  hall  equipped  with  a  large 
and  small  auditorium,  several  smaller  halls  of  various  seating 
capacity,  committee  rooms,  check  rooms,  a  considerable 
amount  of  floor  space  for  exhibition  purposes,  administrative 
offices,  etc. 

Chicago,  Cleveland,  Philadelphia,  Kansas  City,  St.  Paul, 
Milwaukee,  San  Francisco,  Oakland,  Denver  and  other  smaller 
cities  either  have  built  or  are  about  to  construct  municipal 
auditoriums  or  convention  halls  of  various  designs  suited  to 
meet  the  many  needs  of  the  community.  A  committee  ap- 
pointed by  the  Mayor  in  1917  made  a  special  study  of  the 
needs  of  St.  Louis  respecting  such  a  structure.  Definite  recom- 
mendations as  to  the  character  and  contents  of  such  a  build- 
ing were  made  which  was  estimated  to  cost,  including  the  site, 
about  $2,500,000.  This  building  could  be  used  for  various  in- 
dustrial and  commercial  exhibitions;  automobile  show;  for 
grand  opera  purposes,  pending  the  erection  of  a  building  de- 
signed specifically  for  grand  opera  purposes;  conventions, 
large  and  small ;  athletic  meets  and  political, .  patriotic  and 
religious  gatherings;  and  various  other  assemblages  incident 
to  life  in  a  great  city.  Such  a  building  under  proper  manage- 
ment would  probably  be  self-supporting  or  very  nearly  so  and 
as  such  its  cost  would  be  amortized  within  ten  or  fifteen  years. 

Miscellaneous  Items 

There  are  various  other  items  needed  by  the  city  which  can 
be  financed  only  through  the  issuance  of  bonds,  including  the 
erection  of  a  garbage  reduction  plant  or  such  other  method  as 
the  city  may  determine  upon  to  dispose  of  its  garbage  and  re- 


ST.  LOUIS  AFTER  THE  WAR  29 

fuse,  fireproofing  the  city  stables,  acquisition  of  certain  ma- 
terial yards  for  the  use  of  the  Street  Department,  acquisition 
of  a  municipal  farm,  enlargement  of  the  Koch  (tuberculosis) 
hospital,  reconstruction  and  erection  of  additional  retail  mar- 
kets. These  are  all  items  of  more  or  less  importance  and  es- 
sential to  good  conduct  of  municipal  affairs,  though  their  need 
makes  no  special  appeal  to  the  imagination  or  to  the  civic 
spirit  of  the  community. 

Housing 

As  has  been  previously  stated,  it  is  questionable  whether  the 
city  will  ever  be  called  upon  to  issue  bonds  for  housing  pur- 
poses, if  so,  they  should  be  issued  only  after  some  more  or 
less  definite  well-studied  scheme  which  will  insure  a  proper  re- 
turn to  the  city  upon  its  investment.  The  experience  of  the 
federal  government  in  housing  at  the  various  shipyards  and 
municipal  plants  during  the  war  insures  a  more  intelligent 
method  of  handling  the  housing  operations  of  European  Gov- 
ernments during  the  war  and  especially  as  contemplated  fol- 
lowing the  war,  would  almost  place  housing  within  the  realm 
of  a  distinct  governmental  activity.  Previous  to  the  war  Lon- 
don and  other  cities  found  it  necessary  to  remove  some  of 
their  slums  because  of  the  intolerable  unsanitary  conditions 
then  existing  and  to  rebuild  these  slums  with  decent  houses. 
Until  recent  years  the  housing  of  low-paid  wage  earners  has 
been  largely  a  means  of  speculation  and  profiteering  by  indi- 
viduals producing  conditions  which  a  genuine  democracy  can 
no  longer  tolerate.  "Whether  houses  are  built  in  the  future  by 
the  organization  of  national,  state,  municipal  or  private  credit, 
it  is  certain  that  the  standards  of  housing  for  the  lower-paid 
wage  earners  must  be  improved  and  if  the  burden  of  providing 
good  housing  falls  upon  the  municipality,  it  should  be  pre- 
pared to  assume  the  responsibility. 

Transit 

The  present  transit  situation  in  St.  Louis  is  such  that  event- 
ually the  city  may  be  called  upon  to  undertake  entire  or  par- 
tial financial  control  and  operation  of  the  transit  facilities. 


30  CITY  PLAN  COMMISSION 

Certainly  as  the  city  grows  and  rapid  transit  becomes  neces- 
sary, it  will  be  more  or  less  necessa^  for  the  city  to  become 
financially  interested  in  the  construction  of  the  lines,  as  has 
been  found  to  be  the  case  in  many  other  large  American  cities. 
To  this  end  the  city  should  secure  legislation  Avhich  will  per- 
mit it  to  issue  bonds  of  a  sufficient  amount  to  meet  any  neces- 
sities which  may  arise,  and  since  transit  is  a  public  utility 
which  should  naturally  be  self-supporting,  these  bonds  ought 
to  be  exempt  from  the  percentage  limit  which  the  city  may 
issue. 

Conclusion 

The  foregoing  facts  and  figures  have  been  presented  for 
several  reasons: 

First — To  determine  the  nature  of  St.  Louis'  responsibility 
in  the  reconstruction  program  after  the  war. 

Second — To  show  the  position  of  St.  Louis  with  respect  to 
other  large  cities  of  the  country  in  respect  to  character 
and  extent  of  public  works. 

Third — To  suggest  the  successive  steps  necessary  for  action 
on  definite  plans. 

It  is  therefore  recommended : 

First — That  there  be  prepared  the  necessary  laws  which 
would  permit  the  accomplishment  of  public  work  here- 
tofore enumerated,  including  constitutional  amend- 
ments providing  for  increase  in  the  limit  of  bonded  in- 
debtedness which  the  City  of  St.  Louis  may  issue  from 
five  to  ten  per  cent  of  its  assessed  valuation,  a  constitu- 
tional amendment  exempting  bonds  issued  for  river- 
front improvements,  housing  or  transit  purposes  from 
inclusion  in  the  percentage  limit,  for  altering  the  terms 
for  which  bonds  may  be  issued  to  correspond  to  the  life 
•  of  the  improvement  against  which  they  are  issued,  and 
a  constitutional  amendment  providing  for  the  use  of 
power  of  excess  condemnation. 

Second — That  every  effort  be  made  by  the  city  administra- 
tion and  the  civic  and  commercial  organizations  of  the 
City  of  St.  Louis  to  secure  the  passage  of  these  laws  at 
the  coming  sessions  of  the  Legislature. 


ST.  LOUIS  AFTER  THE  WAR  31 

Third — That  steps  be  taken  in  anticipation  of  a  referendum 
for  a  bond  issue  within  the  present  limitations  of  the 
constitution  to  include  the  more  immediate  necessary 
projects  such  as  the  River  des  Peres  Plan,  certain  pub- 
lic sewers,  street  openings  and  other  items  upon  which 
construction  work  could  be  started  at  any  expedient 
date. 

While  the  foregoing  program,  particularly  for  the  larger 
issue  of  bonds,  may  seem  to  be  unduly  large,  such  can  scarcely 
be  considered  the  case  when  compared  with  what  other  cities 
have  undertaken.  Assuming  that  the  new  program  amount- 
ing to  approximately  $89,000,000  were  now  to  be  carried  out, 
the  total  indebtedness  of  St.  Louis  would  still  be  less  than  that 
of  New  York,  Chicago,  Philadelphia  or  Baltimore  at  the  pres- 
ent date,  and  only  slightly  more  than  that  of  Cleveland  and 
Pittsburg  at  the  present  time.  The  cost  of  the  total  program, 
too,  is  only  about  50  per  cent  of  the  sum  raised  in  St.  Louis  in 
the  past  year  for  Liberty  Loans  and  other  war  work. 


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